Tampa Racing - View Single Post - Less speeding tickets issued because fines are going up

Feb 6, 2009 | 04:44 AM

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Gorky_Park

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Less speeding tickets issued because fines are going up

Police writing fewer
tickets?
Steve Nichols
ST. PETERSBURG - Errant drivers can thank Florida lawmakers for increasing the odds of getting a break from traffic cops.

The Florida Legislature increased fines last July and again February 1st.

"The legisture is desperate for revenue, and they don't want to raise taxes, so they increase fines," Pinellas Clerk of the Court Ken Burke explains.

But a typical moving violation can now cost $200 and up, and non-moving violations start at $100.

"You pull over the single mom and she's violated the speed limit. I'm not saying that's right, but are we going to hit that poor lady with a $200 ticket?" Sgt. Jack Peterson, president of the union representing Pinellas Sheriff deputies asks.

The answer is increasingly "no."

Deputies wrote 48 percent fewer tickets in January compared to January 2008. The drop in Largo was 31 percent, and it was 27percent in both Clearwater and St. Petersburg.

"I'm glad that we are compassionate as human beings and not hitting people with these types of citations," Sgt. Peterson says.

However, nearly two dozen different governmental agencies and trust funds receive slices of the traffic fine pie. Their revenues are taking a hit.

Traffic officers also caution drivers to not count on getting a break. Previous tickets can affect their decision, as well as the degree of violation. A driver going only a few miles over the speed limit with no priors received a warning. Another man going nearly 20 miles over the limit got a ticket.

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